Mercedes ML350 or Audi Q5 V6

This is a discussion on Mercedes ML350 or Audi Q5 V6 within Luxury, Imports & Niche, part of the What Car? category; Originally Posted by morphin1
So how is your car treating you? Any problems with the car ?
Cheers
So far ...

So far all is well. The car is sturdy, I was always under the impression that Merc's should be handled with care, but all of that changed last week, when my bro accidentally pressed the accelerator, when he was trying to park the car in front of the gate, the car banged the huge metal gate, the metal gate has a bend and to our surprise only the only damage to the car, was the cracked front number plate. She delivers around 6 kmpl and engine is a gem.

Let me put it this way, my bro is extremely happy with the buy, he loves all the attention it gets him at the fuel station....., the buying exp was excellent, so nothing to complain. The car still hasn't gone for its first service and AFAIK the costs are on expensive side, if you are ok with that, then it is an excellent buy.

An update and a bad one. The car has done around 8 to 10K [don't recall the exact number]. The car is having a lot of issues, which the idiot's at Sundaram Motors, MG Road are unable to solve. The problems have been existing since a few months, I did not want to update the status without giving the service center guys a fair amount of time.

First the problems

1) There is a rattle near the back door, for which the car was left at Sundaram motors for more than a week, and those idiot's don't have a clue as to what is wrong. This rattle started just 15 days after we took the delivery of the car. One Mr Villas assured that he will come to our house and inspect the car, it has been 15 days, buggers don't even pick the phone calls now.

2) The car sometimes all of a sudden switches off in traffic, when waiting at signals, the first time it happened, it was very embarrassing and he was caught in peak hour traffic. He showed the car to the service center and as usual, all is well was the reply from them. My brother feels the "BLUE EFFICIENCY" might be causing this, he will try it once.

3) The car's AC stinks every time he uses it and the service guys are saying you to change the air filter, which is not under warranty.

4) Since yesterday the car door's are not auto-locking once on the move. He has to manually lock it every time.

5) There is a clicking sound that keeps coming from the front tyre's, when in reverse mode. Happens only in reverse mode.

The list is growing, for a car less than six months old, I would say it is extremely poor service from Mercedes.

People looking out to buy a Mercedes be prepared for the mental torture you will have to endure.

I feel very bad for my bro, dunno what to say.

A big ZERO as for as ASS is concerned. Personal advice stay away from Mercedes. He was about to sell his trusty Fortuner, but looking at the poor reliability of the Merc, he has decided to keep it.

1) 7 days is too long to sort out a rattle, should be done in a day or 2 max, even if they have to open up stuff. Do try and ask him to go there himself and show them the rattle. Wrong of your brother to even leave it there for 7 days.

2) Could be the auto start stop, there is an ECO button on the dash, keep that off. If the engine is going off with the auto start stop being off then its certainly something wrong.

3) Has it been used in very dusty conditions? If so the filter may have got dirty. But otherwise push them to replace it under warranty.

4) Settings must have been changed. I think the settings for this may be in the drivers instrument panel and adjustable from the steering wheel. If not then it will be in the Command console.

5) No clue what it could be.

My advice is to send an email regarding the bad service you have received to Mercedes India, and also go and meet the service manager and tell him of your problems.

An update and a bad one. The car has done around 8 to 10K [don't recall the exact number]. The car is having a lot of issues, which the idiot's at Sundaram Motors, MG Road are unable to solve. The problems have been existing since a few months, I did not want to update the status without giving the service center guys a fair amount of time.

First the problems

1) There is a rattle near the back door, for which the car was left at Sundaram motors for more than a week, and those idiot's don't have a clue as to what is wrong. This rattle started just 15 days after we took the delivery of the car. One Mr Villas assured that he will come to our house and inspect the car, it has been 15 days, buggers don't even pick the phone calls now.

2) The car sometimes all of a sudden switches off in traffic, when waiting at signals, the first time it happened, it was very embarrassing and he was caught in peak hour traffic. He showed the car to the service center and as usual, all is well was the reply from them. My brother feels the "BLUE EFFICIENCY" might be causing this, he will try it once.

3) The car's AC stinks every time he uses it and the service guys are saying you to change the air filter, which is not under warranty.

4) Since yesterday the car door's are not auto-locking once on the move. He has to manually lock it every time.

5) There is a clicking sound that keeps coming from the front tyre's, when in reverse mode. Happens only in reverse mode.

Any help guys?

Hey rbp,

1) I agree that the rattles & rattling sound can be one of the most frustrating sounds to find and repair. But 15 days to find / sort rattle is too long as the common sound can be from the window assembly areas or the door latch / locks.

2) Isn't this the Auto start stop system ?

3) How can changing the Air Filter solve this problem
IMO they would have meant the A/C Filter.
Also there is a peculiar odor associated with Merc's (In my experience has been observed similar problem in 2-3 friends Mercs) i assume it would be the genetic odor, check out a similar aged ML or any other Merc & compare.

1) I agree that the rattles & rattling sound can be one of the most frustrating sounds to find and repair. But 15 days to find / sort rattle is too long as the common sound can be from the window assembly areas or the door latch / locks.

2) Isn't this the Auto start stop system ?

3) How can changing the Air Filter solve this problem
IMO they would have meant the A/C Filter.
Also there is a peculiar odor associated with Merc's (In my experience has been observed similar problem in 2-3 friends Mercs) i assume it would be the genetic odor, check out a similar aged ML or any other Merc & compare.

4) Try resetting the "Auto Lock" setting in the Merc command center.

5) No idea on this one

Sorry guys! It is the AC Filter not the Air Filter .

May be the driver has fiddled around with the auto lock option, should ask him to check it out.

1) There is a rattle near the back door, for which the car was left at Sundaram motors for more than a week, and those idiot's don't have a clue as to what is wrong. This rattle started just 15 days after we took the delivery of the car. One Mr Villas assured that he will come to our house and inspect the car, it has been 15 days, buggers don't even pick the phone calls now.

A big ZERO as for as ASS is concerned. Personal advice stay away from Mercedes.

A ML250 CDI in our family also has this rattling sound and it's done just about 4000kms! The technician said the rattle is from the lock but getting this problem diagnosed was a task in itself. Try telling your dealer to check this out and replace the lock if it's in stock and see if the problem resolves.

The first time we called the dealer, Autohangar, they said it will take 4 days to return the car as they have a few cars that were stuck on flooded roads and have to attend to them first. After 4 days the rattle was still there though it was much less. Made the complaint and took the car. The dealer called back and promised to send someone over to take a look at the car again. No body turned up on that day, no calls either. Complaint's to Mercedes facebook yielded no results except for a standard corporate response. A week later Autohangar calls and even sends a letter that says they were trying to call us for to confirm the appointment but the call did no materialise. Only they know what that means and besides the appointment was already confirmed so why the re-confirmation. Anyway during the call, I blew my top post which the customer service manager called me back and promised to send some one over.

Last friday, a technician from Autohangar came and after checking the car said he suspects that it's the lock that's causing the rattle but since they don't have it in stock we will have wait another 15-20 days for the replacement. We are currently waiting for the part to be ordered, Autohangar hasn't called to ask our feedback & neither have they called to confirm that they have ordered the part. I agree with you on Mercedes service, it's the pits. So far based on our experience post one service and one rattle, I will rate them on par with Tata, Mahindra & Fiat!

Quote:

My advice is to send an email regarding the bad service you have received to Mercedes India,

Mercedes doesn't care for it's 'premium' customer's. I sent an email to Mercedes India from their website. The first time I tried it didn't work, it kept asking me to fill in all details which I already had! A few days later, the email went through smoothly. We waited for a week and there was no response. We then sent a letter through courier to their plant and it's been almost a week and there has been no response. Not one a one line acknowledgement that they have recieved our email / letter and will look into the problem.

Damn, looks like the MB horror days are back. We bought our first Merc 12 years ago and I swore never to buy one after the problems we faced. Of late I was beginning to gain some trust in the brand again but seems like things have changed yet!! Feel foolish to have almost considered buying the ML to replace my 5er or actually aspiring to get the new S. I'm hoping these are the initial batch issues, something MB is famous for - teething problems.

So far based on our experience post one service and one rattle, I will rate them on par with Tata, Mahindra & Fiat!

I sent an email to Mercedes India from their website. The first time I tried it didn't work, it kept asking me to fill in all details which I already had! A few days later, the email went through smoothly. We waited for a week and there was no response.

Dear amit sir,

I went through the exact same thing as you are undergoing now. The car in question is an W211 E230. I gave the car for routine service at Shaman, who said that the camshafts and solenoids of a 3 year old car are bust, and need replacement. I went to their service center and demanded to see the car. They refused stating its company policy. I requested my car to be handed over since I smelled a rat. I sent the car to autohangar next for inspection. They took 3 days to inspect. This for a service center which was inaugurated as the largest in the country. Of course, as I suspected, Shaman had pulled a fast one on me. I sent an email to mercedes to register a complaint, demanding an apology and an explanation. I received an automated standard email from them. That's it. I followed it up with multiple emails and complaining on their facebook page as well. Nothing, zilch, nadir.
Since that day I have decided to get the car serviced by an local independent garage only. Autohangar takes 3-4 days just for normal service. It took them 1 month to order an antenna for the car and that too after repeated follow ups from my side. What's the point of having a huge service center if you don't stock routine parts? (I am talking of a simple air filter here). What's the point of your 52 service bays if it still takes you 3-4 days just for a oil change? I don't have faith in Mercedes any more. I believe all they are interested is in selling their cars and inflating the service bills with unnecessary items. I mean, what is the point of owning a merc, if the after sales treatment is not going to be any different from a Premier?
Do I have to defame the company publicly everytime I have issues with them for them to sit up and notice?
No sir, I will be more happy with a simple Japanese car. Until the laws of this country are not customer oriented and until the companies do not take their customer complaints seriously, I am washing off my hands from any big marquee at least in this country. Even if I can afford a rolls royce, I won't bother.

1) There is a rattle near the back door, for which the car was left at Sundaram motors for more than a week, and those idiot's don't have a clue as to what is wrong. This rattle started just 15 days after we took the delivery of the car.

Quote:

A ML250 CDI in our family also has this rattling sound and it's done just about 4000kms! The technician said the rattle is from the lock

Has your rattling problem been diagnosed to the lock? In our case, we still have no information from Autohangar on whether they have ordered for the part or not. If the rattle is diagnosed to the lock then it means the problem should affect many more ML models as you have a CBU ML 350 while we have a CKD ML 250 CDI and both cars have the same problem.

Guys, after reading these horror stories regarding Mercedes quality, I have put my plan to buy a ML 250 cdi on hold.

I was going to give the booking amount today.
If this is what I will have to suffer, after having paid 60 lacs & getting star ease warranty.

I'd rather stick to the Toyotas.

The last time I bought a Merc was way back in 2001 when we bought an E240 petrol.

Haven't looked at MBIL since.
O.T. :

Guys getting a great deal on a brand new X6 3.0 diesel. Pre budget. Worth it.??

Stay away from Merc. The vehicle is a great buy, but the idiots don't know how to service it.

I love the looks of the X6, looks massive and great road presence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amit

Has your rattling problem been diagnosed to the lock? In our case, we still have no information from Autohangar on whether they have ordered for the part or not. If the rattle is diagnosed to the lock then it means the problem should affect many more ML models as you have a CBU ML 350 while we have a CKD ML 250 CDI and both cars have the same problem.

Not yet, he hasn't given it back for service. Will keep the thread updated when he gives it.

This is really disheartening to hear rbp! Just when I thought Merc's reliability issues are a thing of the past, this comes up. I was recommending it to my brother for his next purchase, I'll take back my reccomendation after hearing this. Any further updates on your situation?

Does this have anything to do with the fact that the ML250 is a CKD while the 350 is CBU (or are both CKD now)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by car_crazy1400

Guys, after reading these horror stories regarding Mercedes quality, I have put my plan to buy a ML 250 cdi on hold.

I was going to give the booking amount today.
If this is what I will have to suffer, after having paid 60 lacs & getting star ease warranty.

I'd rather stick to the Toyotas.

The last time I bought a Merc was way back in 2001 when we bought an E240 petrol.

Haven't looked at MBIL since.
O.T. :

Guys getting a great deal on a brand new X6 3.0 diesel. Pre budget. Worth it.??

Could you share the details of your deal on the X6?

IMO, The car from the outside is really wide and big but that in no way translates into interior/cabin space. And I guess its only got 4 seats, its cramped inside and with a swooping roof, headroom is tight too. Suspension is pretty stiff.

It does look striking and imposing yes, but pretty? If you ask me, I'd have to say no.

Honestly, if you do not have a requirement of the 4WD (which on the X6 is highly incapable btw) you're better off with a saloon for that kind of money and you can surely expect that to be spacious, comfotable, luxurious, fast and pretty looking.

Well, i test drove the x6 today and found the ride quality to be poor.

Its hard! Even on slightly patchy roads.
I am looking for a SUV as the road conditions are poor , where i need it, besides, its intented for my self driving father, who finds a saloon like e class too low and too much care is needed not to ground it on our poor roads.

Hence the lookout for a luxury SUV. 4x4 is not needed. But having it doesn't harm either.

My problem is this : Audi Q7 is outdated and feels that way too, especially the interiors. I found it to be slightly cramped comapred to its huge exterior dimentions and road presence. Besides a replacement is due next year.

I plan to keep the car for 4 years atleast.

BMW X5 : Replacement is already out abroad.
Run flats.. i like the driving and handling though the steering was hard/ heavy.

So, i was left with the Merc & quiet liked it.
But then the service issues again raise its head..